List of champions of the 1887 U.S. National Championships (now known as the US Open). The men's tournament was held from 22 August to 30 August on the outdoor Grass courts at the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island. It was the 7th U.S. National Championships and the second Grand Slam tournament of the year. In 1887 the first U.S. Women's National Singles Championship was held. The event was launched at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, PA and was played after the men's tournament had ended. 17-year-old Philadelphian Ellen Hansell became the first women's champion.[1]

1.
Newport, Rhode Island
–
Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The City of Newport is located approximately 37 miles southeast of Providence,21 miles south of Fall River and it is known as a New England summer resort and famous for its mansions. It was a major 18th-century port city and also contains a number of surviving buildings from the colonial era of the United States. The city is the county seat of Newport County and it was known for being the city of some of the Summer White Houses during the administrations of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. The population was 24,027 as of 2013 and its eight founders and first officers were Nicholas Easton, William Coddington, John Clarke, John Coggeshall, William Brenton, Jeremy Clark, Thomas Hazard, and Henry Bull. They left Portsmouth, Rhode Island after a fallout with Anne Hutchinson. As part of the agreement, Coddington and his followers took control of the side of the island. They were soon joined by Nicholas Easton, who had recently expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony for holding heretical beliefs. The settlement grew to be the largest of the four settlements of Rhode Island. Many of the first colonists in Newport became Baptists, and the second Baptist congregation in Rhode Island was formed in 1640 under the leadership of John Clarke, peace did not last long in Newport, as many did not like Coddingtons autocratic style. As a result, a counter-faction was formed by 1650, led by Nicholas Easton, Newport became the most important port in colonial Rhode Island, and a public school was established in 1640. In 1658, a group of Jews were allowed to settle in Newport who were fleeing the Inquisition in Spain, the Newport congregation is now referred to as Congregation Jeshuat Israel and is the second-oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. It meets in Touro Synagogue, the oldest standing synagogue in the United States, in 1663, the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations received its Royal Charter, and Benedict Arnold was elected its first Governor at Newport. The commercial activity which raised Newport to its fame as a port was begun by a second wave of Portuguese Jews who settled there about the middle of the 18th century. They brought with them experience and connections, capital. Most prominent among those were Jacob Rodrigues Rivera who arrived in 1745, Rivera introduced into America the manufacture of sperm oil, which became one of the leading industries and made Newport rich. Newports inhabitants who were engaged in whaling developed 17 manufactories of oil and candles, Aaron Lopez fled to Newport from Lisbon in 1752 and is credited with making Newport an important center of trade. To him in a degree than to any one else was due the rapid commercial development which made Newport for a quarter of a century afterward the most formidable rival of New York

2.
Rhode Island
–
Rhode Island, officially the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Rhode Island is the smallest in area, the eighth least populous, and its official name is also the longest of any state in the Union. Rhode Island is bordered by Connecticut to the west, Massachusetts to the north and east, the state also shares a short maritime border with New York. It boycotted the 1787 convention that drew up the United States Constitution, on May 29,1790, Rhode Island became the 13th and last state to ratify the Constitution. Rhode Islands official nickname is The Ocean State, a reference to the fact that the state has several large bays, Rhode Island covers 1,214 square miles, of which 1,045 square miles are land. Despite its name, most of Rhode Island is located on the mainland of the United States, the official name of the state is State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, which is derived from the merger of four settlements. Rhode Island is now commonly called Aquidneck Island, the largest of several islands in Narragansett Bay, Providence Plantation was the name of the colony founded by Roger Williams in the area now known as the city of Providence. This was adjoined by the settlement of Warwick, hence the plural Providence Plantations and it is unclear how Aquidneck Island came to be known as Rhode Island, although there are two popular theories. Explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano noted the presence of an island near the mouth of Narragansett Bay in 1524, subsequent European explorers were unable to precisely identify the island that Verrazzano had named, but the Pilgrims who later colonized the area assumed that it was Aquidneck. A second theory concerns the fact that Adriaen Block passed by Aquidneck during his expeditions in the 1610s, historians have theorized that this reddish appearance resulted from either red autumn foliage or red clay on portions of the shore. The earliest documented use of the name Rhode Island for Aquidneck was in 1637 by Roger Williams, the name was officially applied to the island in 1644 with these words, Aquethneck shall be henceforth called the Isle of Rodes or Rhode-Island. The name Isle of Rodes is used in a document as late as 1646. Dutch maps as early as 1659 call the island Red Island, Williams was a theologian forced out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Seeking religious and political tolerance, he and others founded Providence Plantation as a proprietary colony. Providence referred to the concept of providence, and plantation was an English term for a colony. State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is the longest official name of any state in the Union, advocates for excising plantation asserted that the word specifically referred to the British colonial practice of establishing settlements which disenfranchised native people. Advocates for retaining the name argued that plantation was simply an archaic English synonym for colony, the referendum election was held on November 2,2010, and the people voted overwhelmingly to retain the entire original name. It shares a maritime border with New York State between Block Island and Long Island

3.
Philadelphia
–
In 1682, William Penn, an English Quaker, founded the city to serve as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony. Philadelphia was one of the capitals in the Revolutionary War. In the 19th century, Philadelphia became an industrial center. It became a destination for African-Americans in the Great Migration. The areas many universities and colleges make Philadelphia a top international study destination, as the city has evolved into an educational, with a gross domestic product of $388 billion, Philadelphia ranks ninth among world cities and fourth in the nation. Philadelphia is the center of activity in Pennsylvania and is home to seven Fortune 1000 companies. The Philadelphia skyline is growing, with a market of almost 81,900 commercial properties in 2016 including several prominent skyscrapers. The city is known for its arts, culture, and rich history, Philadelphia has more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other American city. Fairmount Park, when combined with the adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the watershed, is one of the largest contiguous urban park areas in the United States. The 67 National Historic Landmarks in the city helped account for the $10 billion generated by tourism, Philadelphia is the only World Heritage City in the United States. Before Europeans arrived, the Philadelphia area was home to the Lenape Indians in the village of Shackamaxon, the Lenape are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government. They are also called Delaware Indians and their territory was along the Delaware River watershed, western Long Island. Most Lenape were pushed out of their Delaware homeland during the 18th century by expanding European colonies, Lenape communities were weakened by newly introduced diseases, mainly smallpox, and violent conflict with Europeans. Iroquois people occasionally fought the Lenape, surviving Lenape moved west into the upper Ohio River basin. The American Revolutionary War and United States independence pushed them further west, in the 1860s, the United States government sent most Lenape remaining in the eastern United States to the Indian Territory under the Indian removal policy. In the 21st century, most Lenape now reside in the US state of Oklahoma, with communities living also in Wisconsin, Ontario. The Dutch considered the entire Delaware River valley to be part of their New Netherland colony, in 1638, Swedish settlers led by renegade Dutch established the colony of New Sweden at Fort Christina and quickly spread out in the valley. In 1644, New Sweden supported the Susquehannocks in their defeat of the English colony of Maryland

4.
Pennsylvania
–
Pennsylvania /ˌpɛnsᵻlˈveɪnjə/, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle, Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest, the 5th most populous, and the 9th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The states five most populous cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, the state capital, and its ninth-largest city, is Harrisburg. Pennsylvania has 140 miles of shoreline along Lake Erie and the Delaware Estuary. The state is one of the 13 original founding states of the United States, it came into being in 1681 as a result of a land grant to William Penn. Part of Pennsylvania, together with the present State of Delaware, had earlier been organized as the Colony of New Sweden and it was the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, on December 12,1787. Independence Hall, where the United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were drafted, is located in the states largest city of Philadelphia, during the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought in the south central region of the state. Valley Forge near Philadelphia was General Washingtons headquarters during the winter of 1777–78. Pennsylvania is 170 miles north to south and 283 miles east to west, of a total 46,055 square miles,44,817 square miles are land,490 square miles are inland waters, and 749 square miles are waters in Lake Erie. It is the 33rd largest state in the United States, Pennsylvania has 51 miles of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. Cities include Philadelphia, Reading, Lebanon and Lancaster in the southeast, Pittsburgh in the southwest, the tri-cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, the northeast includes the former anthracite coal mining communities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston City, and Hazleton. Erie is located in the northwest, the state has 5 regions, namely the Allegheny Plateau, Ridge and Valley, Atlantic Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and the Erie Plain. Straddling two major zones, the majority of the state, with the exception of the corner, has a humid continental climate. The largest city, Philadelphia, has characteristics of the humid subtropical climate that covers much of Delaware. Moving toward the interior of the state, the winter climate becomes colder, the number of cloudy days increase. Western areas of the state, particularly locations near Lake Erie, can receive over 100 inches of snowfall annually, the state may be subject to severe weather from spring through summer into fall. Tornadoes occur annually in the state, sometimes in large numbers, the Tuscarora Nation took up temporary residence in the central portion of Pennsylvania ca. Both the Dutch and the English claimed both sides of the Delaware River as part of their lands in America

5.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci

6.
US Open (tennis)
–
The United States Open Tennis Championships is a hardcourt tennis tournament. The tournament is the version of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world. The US Open is held annually, starting on the last Monday in August, the main tournament consists of five event championships, mens and womens singles, mens and womens doubles, and mixed doubles, with additional tournaments for senior, junior, and wheelchair players. Since 1978, the tournament has played on acrylic hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens. The US Open is owned and organized by the United States Tennis Association, net proceeds from ticket sales, sponsorships, and television deals are used to promote the development of tennis in the United States. The US Open is the only Grand Slam that employs tiebreakers in every set of a match, the first edition was won by Richard Sears, who went on to win seven consecutive singles titles. In the first years of the U. S. National Championship only men competed and this was followed by the introduction of the U. S. Womens National Doubles Championship in 1899 and the U. S. The womens tournament used a system from 1888 through 1918. This view was opposed by another group of players which included eight former national singles champions, the contentious issue was brought to a vote at the annual USNLTA meeting on February 5,1915 and with 128 votes in favor and 119 against it was decided to relocate. From 1921 through 1923, the tournament was played at the Germantown Cricket Club in Philadelphia and it returned to Forest Hills in 1924 following the completion of the newly constructed 14,000 seat concrete Forest Hills Stadium. Though regarded unofficially by many as a major championship beforehand, the tournament was officially designated as one of the tournaments by the ILTF commencing in 1924. At the 1922 U. S. National Championships the draw for the first time included seeded players in order to avoid leading players drawing against each other in the early rounds. Open era The open era began in 1968 when all five events were merged into the US Open, the 1968 combined tournament was open to professionals for the first time. That year,96 men and 63 women entered the event, from 1970 to 1974 the US Open used a best-of-nine point, sudden death tiebreaker before moving to the ITF best-of-twelve point system. In 1973 the US Open became the first Grand Slam tournament to award equal prize money to men and women with that years singles champions John Newcombe, another US Open innovation came in 1975 when floodlights enabled night play for the first time. In 1978 the tournament moved from the West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills, Queens to the larger USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, three miles to the north. In the process, the tournament switched the court surface from clay, jimmy Connors is the only individual to have won US Open singles titles on all three surfaces, while Chris Evert is the only woman to win on two surfaces. The US Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that has played every year since its inception

7.
Newport Casino
–
The Newport Casino is an athletic complex and recreation center located at 186–202 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, United States. The complex now houses the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and was the site of the earliest US Opens, the complex was commissioned in 1880 by James Gordon Bennett, Jr. Candy won the bet, but the Governors of the Reading Room were not amused, Bennett and his infamous short temper did not take this kindly, and soon set about creating his own retreat, what would eventually become The Newport Casino. Soon after deciding to create his own club, Bennett purchased the Sidney Brooks estate. Directly across the street was a vacant lot, suitable for construction of the Casino, Bennett hired Charles McKim to design the Casino. By January 1880, Nathan Barker of Newport was contracted to begin construction, the interior of the Casino, while generally outlined by McKim, was entrusted to Stanford White. Taking many elements and cues from the Japanese Pavilion at the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia, the Newport Casino opened to its first patrons in July 1880, and the general public got their first view in August 1880. The first half of the 20th century was unkind to the Newport Casino, the Gilded age drew to a close with the onset of the Depression, and the Newport fell by the wayside as a summer resort for the wealthy and powerful. The Casino struggled financially as a social club right from the start, like many of the mansions, there was the very real possibility that it would be demolished to make way for more modern retail space. The United States Lawn Tennis Association held their first championships at the Casino in 1881, by this time, tennis was firmly entrenched as the key attraction at the Casino. Candy and Jimmy Van Alen took over operating the club, the combination of prominent headliners at the tennis matches and the museum allowed the building to be saved. It stands today as one of the finest examples of Victorian Shingle Style architecture in the world, the buildings are generally well preserved, and the Casino Theatre which was in a state of disrepair was recently restored and is currently leased to Salve Regina University. The theater occasionally still shows films, mostly during the Newport International Film Festival or charity events, the landscaping in the center, new bushes were recently put in the entrance way with the old overgrown bushes removed. Originally, casino meant a small villa built for pleasure, during the 19th century, the term casino came to include other buildings where social activities took place. It was best known as the home of American lawn tennis, between 1915 and 1967 it hosted the Newport Casino Invitational mens tennis tournament. Today, there is still an active tennis club, as well as an indoor tennis club. The Newport Casino Croquet Club offers championship croquet play on Newports grass courts, the Court Tennis Building is part of the original complex, built in 1880. It burned down in 1945, but was rebuilt in 1980 and it is home to the National Tennis Club

8.
Philadelphia Cricket Club
–
The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854, is the oldest country club in the United States. It has two locations, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and Flourtown, Pennsylvania, founded in 1854, The Philadelphia Cricket Club is the oldest country club in the United States. As the name indicates, the Club was formed by a group of men of English ancestry who had played the game while students at the University of Pennsylvania. With the wish to continue to play together after their graduation, while playing cricket on any grounds available for the first 30 years of the club’s existence, in 1883, the Club “came home” to Chestnut Hill through the generosity of a benefactor, Henry H. Houston. Houston arranged for them to settle down at the Club’s present location on West Willow Grove Avenue in the St. Martins section of Chestnut Hill. When the Golf Association of Philadelphia was organized in 1897, the Club was one of four founding members with Merion, Philadelphia Country Club, the original nine-hole course was built in 1895 by famed architect Willie Tucker and was quickly replaced by a new eighteen-hole course in 1897. The old eighteen-hole course, known as St. Martins and now playing as a nine-hole layout, the 1907 winner was Alec Ross, brother of famed architect Donald Ross, who chalked up a remarkable score of 302 for 72 holes. It was also during this championship that the first hole-in-one in U. S. Open competition was achieved by Jack Hobens, the 1910 Open victory went to Alex Smith, who shot 71 on the final day. Also entered that year was Cricket Club’s own professional, Scottish-born Willie Anderson, Anderson remains the only person to win in three consecutive years. Because the Club did not own the grounds on which the St. Martins golf course was built and it was A. W. Tillinghast who recommended the Flourtown site and who designed the new course, which opened in 1922. In 1999, the Board of Governors made a decision to begin the development of a golf course located on land acquired in the original purchase of the Flourtown property nearly eighty years before. After submissions by several top designers, the Club selected Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry, the name chosen for the “old” course at Flourtown was “Wissahickon”, in reference to the Wissahickon Creek, which runs near one side of the property. In addition, the Club dedicated the Militia Hill course to the memory of Willie Anderson, both the Wissahickon and Militia Hill courses have been recognized for their outstanding layouts and course conditions over the years. There is a short, nine-hole golf course there as well, the second location 40°06′31″N 75°13′25″W is ten minutes away in Whitemarsh Township, near Flourtown, which holds two 18-hole golf courses. Originally, the team did not own any grounds and played in Camden, New Jersey. Source. This changed in 1883, when grounds and a clubhouse were donated by Henry H. Houston, the team was disbanded in 1924 as the clubs other sports became more prevalent, but cricket was revived in 1998. Throughout this time, swimming, golf, tennis, and squash have also thrived at the country club and it is highly dedicated to the growth of juniors in these sports. In 1881, the club was one of the members of the United States Lawn Tennis Association

9.
History of tennis
–
The game that most people call tennis is the direct descendant of what is now known as real tennis or royal tennis. Most of the rules of the commonly known as tennis derive from real or royal tennis. It is reasonable to see both sports as variations of the same game, most historians believe that tennis originated in the monastic cloisters in northern France in the 12th century, but the ball was then struck with the palm of the hand, hence the name jeu de paume. It was not until the 16th century that rackets came into use, and it was popular in England and France and Henry VIII of England was a big fan of the game, now referred to as real tennis. Many original tennis courts remain, including courts at Oxford, Cambridge, Falkland Palace in Fife where Mary Queen of Scots regularly played, many of the French courts were decommissioned with the terror that accompanied the French Revolution. The Tennis Court Oath was an event during the first days of the French Revolution. The Oath was a signed by 576 of the 577 members from the Third Estate who were locked out of a meeting of the Estates-General on 20 June 1789. Any history of tennis that ignores its origins in the game that was known as tennis until lawn tennis became popular in the nineteenth century is inaccurate. The Davis Cup, a competition between mens national teams, dates to 1900. Pyle created the first professional tour with a group of American. The most notable of these professionals were the American Vinnie Richards. Once a player turned pro he or she could not compete in the major tournaments, the word Tennis came into use in English in the mid-13th century from Old French, via the Anglo-Norman term Tenez, which can be translated as hold. A call from the server to his opponent indicating that he is about to serve, Tennis is mentioned in literature as far back as the Middle Ages. In The Second Shepherds Play shepherds gave three gifts, including a ball, to the newborn Christ. Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthurs round table, plays tennis against a group of 17 giants in The Turke, by the 16th century, the glove had become a racquet, the game had moved to an enclosed playing area, and the rules had stabilized. Real tennis spread in popularity throughout royalty in Europe, reaching its peak in the 16th century, francis I of France was an enthusiastic player and promoter of real tennis, building courts and encouraging play among the courtiers and commoners. His successor Henry II was also an excellent player and continued the royal French tradition, in 1555 an Italian priest, Antonio Scaino da Salothe, wrote the first known book about tennis, Trattato del Giuoco della Palla. Two French kings died from tennis related episodes—Louis X of a chill after playing

10.
Grass court
–
A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as lawn tennis, is played. Grass courts are made of grasses in different compositions depending on the tournament, although grass courts are more traditional than other types of tennis courts, maintenance costs of grass courts are higher than those of hard courts and clay courts. Grass courts must be left for the day if rain appears, Grass courts are most common in Britain, although the Northeastern United States also has some private grass courts. Because grass courts tend to be slippery, the ball often skids and bounces low while retaining most of its speed, in addition, there are often bad bounces. As a result, players must reach the ball relative to other surfaces. A grass-court favours a serve and volley style of play, all have won at least five grand slam singles titles on grass, Navratilova won twelve, Court won eight, while King, Sampras, Graf, Serena Williams and Federer each won seven. Sampras is lauded by many analysts as one of the greatest grass-court players of all time. He won seven Wimbledon singles titles in eight years from 1993 through 2000, the most successful male player currently is Roger Federer, a seven-time Wimbledon singles champion. His variety in the shots, speed, footwork, and slices, are his biggest weapons, before being beaten in 2008 at Wimbledon by Rafael Nadal, Federer had a 65-match winning streak on grass, and 40 consecutive wins at Wimbledon alone. The most successful female players currently playing are Serena Williams and her sister Venus Williams, with seven, Venus has won five out of her eight Wimbledon finals appearances and achieving five titles in the ladies doubles with her sister. The professional grass court season is comparatively short, in 2015 it was extended, with an extra week between the French Open and Wimbledon. In the ATP Tour, the Stuttgart Open became a court tournament in 2015, and in 2017 a new ATP250 tournament is being hosted in Antalya. In the WTA Tour Mallorca will host a grass court tournament beginning in 2016, clay court hardcourt carpet court LTA – Grass Court Guidance

11.
Richard Sears (tennis)
–
He was the son of Frederic Richard Sears and Albertina Homer Shelton. His brothers Philip and Herbert were also tennis players, Sears learned to play tennis in 1879. He was undefeated in the U. S. Championships, he won the first of his seven titles in 1881 while still a student at Harvard. In those days the previous winner had an automatic place in the final. Starting in the 1881 first round, he went on an 18-match unbeaten streak that would take him through the 1887 championships, not until 1921 was his 18-match unbeaten run overtaken. During his first three championships Sears did not lose a single set, Sears was the first 19-year-old to win in the U. S. slightly older than Oliver Campbell was in 1890 and the youngest winner ever, Pete Sampras, in 1990. No.1 in the USLTA rankings, when they began in 1885 and he was ranked World No.5 for 1887 by Karoly Mazak. After giving up playing tennis, Sears won the U. S. Court Tennis singles title in 1892. Sears married Eleanor M. Cochrane on November 24,1891 and he died on April 8,1943. His grandson was the Massachusetts politician John W. Sears, Sears was inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1955, where his cousin Eleonora Sears also has a place. Richard Sears at the International Tennis Hall of Fame Richard Sears at the Association of Tennis Professionals

12.
Ellen Hansell
–
Ellen Forde Hansell Allerdice was a female tennis player from the United States who is best known for being the first womens singles champion of the U. S. She was also a losing finalist to Bertha Townsend the next year, Hansell was born on September 18,1869 in Philadelphia, USA, the daughter of Samuel Rob Hansell, an upholstery manufacturer, and Jane Martin. She battled anemia as a child and started playing tennis on advice of her doctor and she joined the Belmont Club in Philadelphia when she was 16 where she played, among others, with Margarette Ballard and Bertha Townsend. In 1887 Hansell took part in the inaugural U. S. Womens National Singles Championship, the event was played on the outdoor grass courts of the Philadelphia Cricket Club and started on 27 September. She was one seven contestants who all came from the greater Delaware Valley area, Hansell, playing in a full over-draped skirt with long sleeves and her customary red hat, won her opening round against Jessie Harding for the loss of just one game. In the semifinal she lost the first set against Helen Day Harris, the final against Laura Knight was a one-sided affair which Hansell won in straight sets to become the first U. S. womens champion. According to a report she employed sidearm serves, sliced ground strokes and never, the tournament used a challenge system whereby the defending champion automatically qualified for the next years final in which she would play the winner of the all-comers tournament. This meant that Hansell did not have to play through the 1888 tournament and she played Bertha Townsend who had won the all-comers event against Marion Wright in the final, and Townsend won the match in straight sets. Hansell did not win another tournament and retired from the game in 1890 and she married Taylor Allerdice and the couple had six children. Hansell was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1965, ellen Hansell at the International Tennis Hall of Fame